


Anxiety Attack

by MarsupialsOfMars



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22381765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarsupialsOfMars/pseuds/MarsupialsOfMars
Summary: Thomas is stressing about his next video and has a panic attack, a side of Virgil that he is not proud of. A very educational story about how a panic attack can effect one's sides.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 61





	Anxiety Attack

**Author's Note:**

> Another archived from tumblr! I still am so proud of this one. It was written before SvS so Deceit is not very well developed.

Thomas growled in frustration. He slammed delete and watched his awful script disappear until he, yet again, had nothing. He watched the line blink at the top of the page. Judging him for feeding it such filth. He huffed out a sigh and shoved out from the table. He started pacing the room, staring at his feet until he was dizzy. He collapsed on the couch and ran both hands through his hair, manually stretching out his facial muscles. Every moment he spent on the couch was a moment he could be writing the script he should have finished let alone started days ago.

“Thomas?” He jumped, turning around in the couch to face the sound. Virgil was sat on the stairs looking worried. “You okay? You’re gettin a little jumpy.”

“You know more than anyone that I’m not okay. This stupid script-“

“Forget the script for a second.” Thomas looked back up at Virgil with confusion.

“Forget it?! Aren’t you supposed to be the one pushing me along? Helping me get it done?” Thomas’ voice rose. Virgil put his hands up.

“Sure I am. But if you keep going like this you’ll burn yourself out and you’ll make a script nobody likes, especially not yourself. You need to be loose.”

“That’s rich coming f-“

“That’s rich coming from me I know, but I’m supposed to look after your well-being and you won’t be well if you don’t get some rest and something to eat-“

“No! I don’t care what you say, I need to get this done! Everyone’s getting antsy, I’ve been slacking, I need progress!”

Virgil sat for a moment. He winced and rubbed his temples.

“Logan.” He flicked his wrist and Logan appeared, blinking.

“That’s…unexpected.”

“Tell Thomas he needs to chill out. He’s overworking.” Logan raised an inquisitive brow at the side.

“This seems rather backwards don’t you think? Shouldn’t you be the one to make him like this and I’d be the one to say ‘no, overworking can cause mental and physical damage causing one to lose interest for sleeping, eating, and other necessities for survival’?”

“Yeah yeah, we’re past that, I might have gotten him like this but now I’m thinking about all that stuff you said and he needs to stop but I can’t stop and it’s STRESSING me the F*CK out!”

Logan blinked. “I’d tell you to calm down but you often seem to have a negative response to that so I’m just going to call-“

“NO MORE! Nobody else!” Virgil yanked his hood over his head and his voice distorted. Thomas was too deep into his new script to notice. Logan looked between the two. Virgil hunched, breathing quickly and biting his nails, and Thomas pulling at his bangs and gritting his teeth as he typed a word about every ten seconds. He knew what was about to transpire. And he knew what had to be done.

“Virgil. Room. Now.” Virgil hissed at the demanding tone but lost no time sinking down. Logan took a deep breath. He had to warn the others of what was coming. He looked at Thomas one last time, feeling uncomfortable leaving him in such an unideal situation, but he knew one things were sorted in his mind he’d be better off. He sunk down quickly.

~~~

“Patton!” Logan rose in Morality’s room.

“Oh! Hey kiddo, was just finishing up some french toast, woulda made another slice if I knew you were coming over! There a problem?” The side plopped a slice of toast out of the pan onto his plate. He stuck a fork in and trotted over to Logan.

“It’s Virgil, he’s conflicted. He’s becoming…unstable.”

“Oh no! Conflicted like how?” Patton stabbed a bite of toast and chewed it.

“He’s worrying about the new video and is overworking Thomas while at the same time worrying for Thomas’ wellbeing, which cancel each other out causing him to…”

Patton chewed worriedly. “To what?”

“To panic.” Patton’s eyes widened. And he pulled the fork from his mouth.

“I need to talk to him!” He began to sink but was stopped by Logan’s hand on his shoulder.

“No! You know that’s unsafe. We need to find Roman and get to a secure location.” Patton sighed and nodded reluctantly. He rose back and took Logan’s hand. They sank together and arose in Romans room.

“Roman!” Logan looked around and found Roman splayed on the couch in a mud mask and cucumbers. He ran over and yanked an earbud from his ear. Beyoncé pumped from the loose speaker. Roman huffed and pulled the cucumbers from his eyes, taking a bite of one. He spoke exasperatedly through his mouthful.

“What?! I’m having some me time-“

“It’s Virgil!” Patton grabbed Romans wrist. The prince looked up at his worried expression.

“Oh, you don’t think it’s…” Logan nodded.

“We need to get to safety. Bring your sword.” Patton whimpered. “He’ll only use it if absolutely necessary Pat, don’t worry.”

“So this is for real? Really happening?!” Roman grabbed his sword from the table.

“Hopefully it won’t escalate that far and he’ll find his control. But it’s too dangerous for us to try to stabilize him. He and Thomas need to ride it out. We can try to lend energies but you know what happened last time.”

Roman gulped. “To the storm shelter?”

“Seems like it.” Logan held Patton’s hand to calm him. “It’ll be fine. We’ve endured worse.”

“We need to get Dee!” Patton tugged Logan’s hand. Logan rolled his eyes.

“He can handle himself. He’s a dark side. He has advantages.”

“Logan! I’m surprised at you! You can’t be saying we should leave him to get hurt just because we don’t get along!” Patton looked sternly at Logan. Full dad. Logan sighed.

“Fine. We’ll risk our own safety for someone who’s done nothing for us.”

“Good.” Patton took both Logan and Romans hands and sank to Deceit’s room. They emerged into a dark cobblestone room. Candelabras lit the first two corners but the room darkened to black at the end of the long cell. The rough rocks on the walls were strung with shed snakeskin and cobwebs stretched over every corner. The air hung warm and humid as if they were in a terrarium.

“Spooky…” Roman peered around. Patton shrugged.

“It’s not so bad once you get used to it! I come down here sometimes to give Dee his dinner if he doesn’t come get it himself. He’s sweet when he’s comfortable.”

Logan scoffed. “I highly doubt that. Perhaps tolerable but I can’t envision him ever being ‘sweet’.

Patton chuckled knowingly. “Dee? Dee Dee, kiddo, you there?” A groan came from the dark side of the room. Sheets rustled.

“Leave me alone. I’m not in the mood.”

“Aw, don’t be like that.” Patton trotted out of sight. Some grumpy mumbling and quiet persuasions could be heard. Roman huffed.

“We don’t have time for this! Deceit, Virgil is about to have a panic attack, come with us if you want to have any sort of shelter!”

A silence. Bedding ruffled and Deceit came trudging out with Patton tailing him. He was in an oversized soccer jersey and had his hair pulled back into a bun. His scales shone with ointment and he had a tub of blueberry Ben and Jerry’s stuck with a full size ice cream scoop.

“Fine. But not because I can’t take him on my own. Just because I’m…”

“You’re shedding, correct?” Logan inspected the dark side’s scales. Deceit hissed and shrugged him away.

“No…”

“So that’s why you’re so grumpy! You’re PMSing!” Roman chuckled.

“Sure, that makes sense…” Deceit shot Roman the stink eye.

“Actually, from what I’ve observed of you during these periods, the discomfort and emotional symptoms are similar to those of a menstrual cycle.”

Deceit growled, flushing, and hissed through his teeth. “It’s NOT-“

Roman burst out laughing. Patton shoved his shoulder.

“Be considerate! It’s not his fault!” Patton huffed at Roman and patted Deceit’s head.

“Now is not the time for this!” Logan grabbed Patton and Romans wrists and pulled them into the hall. Deceit yelped as Patton dragged him along. They found their feet and started quickly down to the storm shelter.

Roman stopped. “What was that?!”

“What was what?” Logan stopped and looked back at the creative side. He was frozen, his eyes locked on the hallway. The four stood in silence, all listening. A deep rumble, like a growl, broke the silence. Deceit jerked back, his weight falling onto his back foot. The floorboard creaked.

The growling stopped suddenly. They knew they should run but nobody was brave enough to make a sound. You could hear a pin drop.

The door next to Deceit burst open suddenly. A flash of black and violet took Deceit to the floor, snarling with reverb. Logan spared no time grabbing his friends sleeves and yanking them to a sprint down the hall.

“DEE! Logan we have to help him!” Patton dug his heels into the wood flooring. Logan struggled to drag him.

“There’s no time! There’s nothing we can do to assist him anyway, you know that! Now it would be in everyone’s best interests if you ran!” Patton cast one last guilty look in Deceits direction before running.

~~~

Thomas slammed his laptop shut and let out a frustrated scream. There was no more lying to himself! It was pointless, there was no way he could finish it in time, everyone would hate him, and he’d destroy himself in the process. He tore at his hair and fell into the couch. He curled up and tried to clear his mind to no avail.

~~~

Patton sprinted along, casting glances behind him. Logan huffed. “If you keep looking back it’ll slow you down and you’ll fall prey to the Attack. Focus on running and pay no mind to what’s behind you.”

Patton tried to tear his gaze away from the rapidly approaching monster. He scolded himself. That wasn’t a monster, it was Virgil, and he was suffering! He slowed his pace.

“Patton what are you doing?! RUN! Only a few more yards and we’ll be secured!”

“N-no, we can help him I know we can! It’s our friend in there, we can’t just hide from him!”

“We can and should, this has all happened before and he’s worn himself out as long as we hide!”

“And it’s never fixed anything because here he is doing it again!” Patton stopped in his tracks.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Logan hesitantly stopped, forced to watch as the monster rapidly approached his helpless friend.

Roman peered over his shoulder. “GET OVER HERE! Now is not the time for feelings!!!” He pushed past Logan and reached for Patton, but just as he did the monster caught up to them. He pulled his hand back and covered his eyes. He couldn’t watch. Logan froze in horror.

“V-Virgil it’s me! It’s Patton! I just want to help.”

Roman peered through his fingers. A figure rose in front of Patton. It clawed the floor, shoving up from its position on all fours. It rose slowly to a bipedal state, revealing a form easily seven feet in height. It’s skin was a pasty white and black veins pulsed beneath its skin, branching across its face and down its elongated limbs. Pitch black eyes blinked down at Patton. It spread its hands, unsheathing claws reaching at least eight inches.

“W-we know you’re feeling a bit… overwhelmed…” he took a step back. The creature hissed, unveiling fangs like daggers. It was a wonder they fit in its mouth. A thick black substance flecked Patton’s face. He flinched and wiped it off. He stayed still as he could and raised his hands.

“Shhh… we know it’s hard. But we can get through this as a family. Right?”

A silence hung in the air. Logan held his breath and Roman watched in intrigue. The prince had seen things like this happen in movies. The approach and befriending of a seemingly ferocious monster. Maybe-

The creature fell to all fours. It’s back arched, spikes bursting from its shoulders and down its spine. It arched its head back and conjured an almost prehistoric, carnivorous roar. Patton fell back, knocking out his own breath.

“W-WAIT-“

The monster pounced, slamming Patton’s head into the hardwood. The moral side fell limp, allowing himself to be whipped around like a rag doll in a blur of teeth and claws.

~~~

Thomas broke. Fat tears rolled down his face and wet his shirt. He grabbed a pillow and buried his face in it. He felt like his heart was tearing and he didn’t know why. It was just a video, just a video! He felt angry and helpless and sad and tired all at once and he couldn’t control it. He racked his brain. There had to be a way to fix this, there had to.  
Roman screamed. Logan grabbed his wrist and ran.

“What are you doing?!”

“I want to save him as much as you do but it’s observably impossible! We have no standing against a fully fledged Anxiety Attack!”

“But if we don’t help, Patton will-“

“If we don’t help Thomas loses one side instead of three! Patton will be damaged but not unrepairable! I feel awful for this as well but we need to run!” Logan yanked Romans hand. “Patton tried to be heroic like this and look what happened!”

“I AM a hero and I need to help no matter what!” Roman gripped the hilt of his sword .

“It will make no difference! Just a few more feet until safety!!!” Logan reached and strained for the handle of the storm shelter. Roman watched the creature throw Patton into the wall again and claw into his stomach. He yanked his hand away.

“I’LL AVENGE YOU PATTON!!!” He drew his sword and charged into the fray.

“YOU’RE INSANE!” Logan grasped at the princes sash one last time to no avail. The hero shouted as a claw slashed his back and teeth dug into his calf. The monster whipped him into the wall, knocking him out with no resistance. Logan spared no time ducking into the storm shelter and deadbolting the door.

~~~

Thomas collapsed. His heart hurt, and his mind was blank. He couldn’t think of a single thing to stop the panic. All techniques he’d learned were gone. He couldn’t come up with solutions. His thoughts began to drift without direction, vicious daymares of everyone unsubscribing, getting angry, feeling betrayed, labeling him as unreliable, a liar… He was stranded he could dream up anything but what he wanted to. Tears fell and he gripped his knees. But it was okay… it wasn’t the end of the world. Nobody would get hurt. Nobody would hate him. It was his own anxiety getting the best of him.

~~~

Logan strained, working to lend Thomas all he could. To rationalize, think of his problem objectively. But with his emotions and problem solving abilities out of control he couldn’t maintain the calm much longer. He tensed at the repetitive banging on the cellar door. But he was Thomas’ only hope. He wasn’t about to be taken so easily. He grabbed a rope from the supplies they stored for emergencies and reinforced the door. The banging was more ferocious now. The grating sound of claws on metal assaulted Logan’s ears. But he knew even an Anxiety Attack couldn’t break through a steel door. He crawled to the corner of the cellar and tore the lid off a can of pineapple from the food stores. He may be in for the long haul. Just as he took his first bite, the sound of tearing metal echoed through the storm shelter. Logan looked up in horror to see four eight inch claws had already pierced through the steel door. A fifth followed then five more, ripping a hole large enough to fit a seven foot monster. Logan looked around the cellar in panic. He was trapped. No exits. He plunged his hand into the supplies and pulled out one of Romans spare swords. He wielded it clumsily. The creature slinked down through the opening it created, almost a slither. Graceful, besides the spikes and flecks of red, yellow, and cyan blood flecking it’s face and claws. Logan’s arms trembled, the sword matching the vibrations. The monster approached on all fours, it’s spines laid back, a growl rumbling in its throat. Logan pointed his sword between the creatures eyes. If needed, a puncture to the eye would most likely go in deep, as the area would be difficult to armor, and cause an immense pain, allowing him an escape. The monster didn’t seem fazed by the weapon. He snarled and leapt at Logan at an angle, knocking him to the cement floor and taking the sword through his shoulder. Logan held steady until the hilt was pressed to powder white flesh and the blade stuck three feet out the other side. He shoved back into the wall, as far from the thing as he could manage. He watched as it gripped the hilt and ripped the sword from its mangled joint. The blade dripped with violet, quickly blackening as it oxidized. He rolled his shoulder and a sickening popping sound crackled from the damage. Ligaments and muscle and skin formed, repairing the wound until all that was left was a light purple scar. Logan dove for the supplies, throwing aside cans and blankets and Romans emergency makeup, looking for any other weapons. He found a kitchen knife at the bottom of the pile and grasped it tightly, but before he could wield it he felt claws wrap his neck and the weapon was ripped from his hand. He felt the blade stab into his lower back, the blow to his spine sending a pulse of lightning through his limbs. The creature lifted him by his throat, letting out a roar before throwing the side against the wall. Logan’s head whipped forward, cracking his forehead against the cement wall. A flash of white assaulted his senses. He felt a grip on his foot as the creature began to drag him away before blacking out.

~~~

Thomas growled loud, smearing tears across his face. Nothing was working. His daymares began to take over, his mind swarming with thoughts. And they all seemed terrifyingly realistic. Anything could happen, None of his thoughts seemed exaggerated, no more problem solving, reasoning. He screamed in frustration and yanked his hair. He’d never had an anxiety attack so bad.

~~~

Logan blinked awake. His head was pulsing and his lower back burned. He tried to turn his head but decided against it. He examined only what he could see in his peripherals. He was in a dark cement room he identified as the basement. He tasted blood on his lips.

“Logan! You’re awake!” A relieved but worried voice piped up from next to the logical side. Logan turned his head with slight discomfort and looked to the voice. His eyes widened. It was Patton, but not as he’d seen him before. His glasses were cracked and crooked, his nose was bleeding cyan, and bruises covered his face and arms. Blood trickled down the back of his neck from his scalp where he was smashed into the floor, and deep claw marks were torn in his shirt and into his stomach.

“Patton!” Logan winced at the volume of his own voice. “Where are we? Where are the others?” Patton nodded to the opposite corner of the room. There he could see Roman looking down confusedly at the still unconscious Deceit on his lap. It was a bit blurry without his glasses.

“He woke up a bit before you. Roman!” Logan was glad he whisper-shouted. Roman looked up.

“Oh! You’re awake!” The prince shoved Dee off him, being careful not to slam his head on the cement. He crawled over. With a closer view of him, Logan could see that he wasn’t in a much better state than Patton. His back was soaked in red and his calf was full of claw punctures. His hair was clumped with blood, he had a black eye, And in his relieved smile Logan could see a chipped canine.

“How long have we been down here?”

Patton shrugged. “Dunno. I was awake for a while before Roman woke up but I don’t know anything before that.”

Logan sighed and rubbed his eyes. He took his hand away to find his fingers were now sticky with indigo.

“Patton, describe to me the injuries I’ve sustained.”

Patton looked over him. “You’ve got little bruises all over, some little cuts on your neck, and a big gash in your forehead. That ones the worst.”

“My back feels less than ideal. Anything there?”

“Mind turning around kiddo?” Patton smiled as Logan complied. He looked down and gasped.

“What?”

“There’s… um…”

“There’s a knife in your back!” Roman wretched slightly. Patton reached for it.

“Don’t take it out! It may be stopping excessive bleeding.”

“So your just gonna stroll around with a kitchen knife sticking out of you like a human pincushion?” Roman raises a brow.

“Better than bleeding out. And I doubt I’ll be doing any ‘strolling’ before I get medical attention.”

“Well we need to get out before that.”

“No, we need to calm Thomas down first. Otherwise the same events will transpire.”

Patton tilted his head. “How?”

“By lending energies.”

Roman shook his head. “We cant lend energies! You know what happened last time! He tracked us by them!”

“It’s worth the risk. If he comes we use the knife.”

Patton whimpered. “Didn’t you just say pulling it out would be a bad thing?”

“We can take our chances.” Logan paused a moment before patting Patton’s shoulder, awkwardly but reassuringly. “It will be okay. It doesn’t have the intent to kill, and to my knowledge we don’t have the ability to die. In previous Attacks it’s been found that as soon as Thomas is feeling at peace we heal. As long as we calm him down this will all be over reasonably quick.”

Patton nodded and hugged Logan. The side stiffened at the contact. “Okay Lo. I trust you.”

“Good…But first we will need need Deceit.”

“What?! Why?” Roman looked back at the villain. “It’s not like he can help calm Thomas down.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Of course lying to yourself can cause mental heath problems if done for an extended period of time, but in a state like Thomas is in now, it may help to calm him enough so we can get through to him. Think, having him deceive himself that everything is completely in control, his panic is lowered temporarily, then we can come in and assist him in understanding that yes, there is a problem, but it’s nowhere near as bad as he’s making it out to be. He then has no need to lie to himself as the reality of the situation isn’t that bad.”

“You’re sure that’s going to work?” Roman seemed skeptical.

“Give me a better idea then.” Logan looked to Roman, patiently awaiting one of the creative sides creative plans. Roman sighed.

“Fine.” He crawled over to Deceit and shook him. “Rise and shine sleeping beauty, you’ve got a job to do!”

Deceit groaned and blinked awake. He sat up and rubbed his head. “Where…”

“We’re in the basement and we need you to help us calm Thomas down.”

“Calm him down?” Deceit raised a brow. “Of course, I have done such a thing before but how do you expect it would help exactly?”

“Lo thinks you can make him think everything’s fine and dandy for a bit until we can step up and calm him down for real.” Roman took the villains wrist and dragged him over to the others. “Just do your thing, and if the Attack comes down to get you we have a knife.”

“Oh, I could take it, no weapons needed.” Deceit scratched his shedding cheek. Roman and Logan rolled their eyes. Patton put a hand on his.

“We’re sure you could kiddo, but just in case. You need full focus after all.”

“I suppose you’re right…” Deceit nodded and put a finger to his lips. “Now?”

“Go ahead.” Logan watched as the scaled side closed his eyes. His lips began to glow a soft sinister yellow under his finger. the glow grew brighter.

~~~

Thomas smeared a sleeve across his face. It was fine. It was fine. It was fine. He was completely overreacting. Nothing was wrong, they were his videos and he could upload when he saw fit. Nobody cared, nobody was pressuring him, it would be best if he just took his sweet time and made whatever he wanted, he was getting worked up over nothing. His breathing slowed. He wiped his eyes. He didn’t feel completely convinced. But he felt better.

~~~

In about thirty seconds Deceit nodded. “He’s deceived. Go on.”

“Who wants to go first?” Logan looked to the others.

“I’m thinking last…” Patton still seemed a bit uneasy.

“I will!” Roman didn’t hesitate placing two fingers on his right temple. A red glow burst from his skin as if it were excited to participate.

~~~

Thomas sighed, his breathing jagged. His jaw was still trembling and his muscles were tight. Something still wasn’t okay. He. Wasn’t totally okay… but… maybe he could tweet out he’d be late? Call Joan over to help? Eat something to fuel him? He hiccuped. Tears welled. Maybe people would hate him… maybe he’d have betrayed people and maybe it wouldn’t be fixed. But he kept thinking about how to make it better.

~~~

Roman nodded and the glow subsided. “Go ahead Lo. Show us what you’ve got.”

Before Logan could begin, pounding footsteps could be heard from the hall up the stairs. Logan reached back and gripped the knife handle, sending a sharp pain down his spine. Roman pulled off his sash and ran up the stairs, tying the doorknob to the handrail. It wasn’t much, but it was something. He pulled off his coat and did the same. He kissed it fast. “Please don’t rip…” he turned to return to the others, but before he could a bang sounded on the door. He jumped, almost tripping as he ran back down. “He’s here!”

Logan looked up the stairs.

“If he tore through steel wood shouldn’t be an issue. Cover me. Deceit, if needed take the knife.”

Deceit nodded. Logan closed his eyes and placed two fingers on his left temple. A precise silver dollar sized circle glowed indigo under his touch. He blocked out the banging and Patton’s whimpering. He blocked out the splintering wood and the screams. He ignored the feeling of the blade being ripped from his back.

He only focused on the task at hand.  
Thomas let solutions trickle through his mind. None of them seemed good enough. Nothing excused a video so late, he’d already been seeing the concern and it was only moments until it turned to anger… but… really, had his fans ever been angry with him? He’d been late before and they’d only expressed understanding and concern for his wellbeing. He sighed, tears still streaming. As long as he got past this, he could regather himself and get it done. He would be okay. Objectively.

~~~

Logan opened his eyes. Sounds of a battle flooded his senses, clanging metal, growling, shouting, roaring. His back stung. He looked to the group. They each had a few more scratches but they seemed to be successfully holding it off. The monster seemed much smaller and less threatening. It snarled and swiped but couldn’t match three sides. Logan joined the fray. “Your turn Pat, we’ll hold him off.” He took Patton’s wrist and squeezed before pushing him out of the battle. He took the moral sides place, gripping the monsters wrists behind his back. It was harder than Patton had made it look.

Patton plopped onto the floor criss cross. His nerves were gone, considering this was a bit less terrifying than battling his scary friend. He took a deep breath and placed two hands over his heart. His chest warmed and twinkled with cyan and sky blue. He blocked out the sounds and had his mind replace them with kittens purrs and chickadees trills.

~~~

Thomas blew his nose and took a deep breath. He wiped tears from his face, keeping his breathing steady. His heart slowed and some color returned to his skin. He sighed. Everything was fine. His tears stopped falling, the ones remaining drying on his face. He picked up his phone and tweeted an apology, confirming the video would be late. Within a minute comments of support flooded in. He smiled and rubbed his eye. He texted Joan that he needed a day, setting a time for the next day to work on the script.

~~~

Patton smiled and opened his eyes. “All done!” He hopped up and joined the battle, now more of a scuffle. His three friends held down his fourth, the fourth now writhing against their grip to no avail. His eyes were still black, his face was still pale, and his voice still wasn’t very human. But otherwise he looked just like Virgil. Patton ran over and hugged him.

“Patton! Careful, he still has teeth and claws!” Logan grabbed Virgil’s torn hood to keep him from snapping and the other two pinned his arms.

“Just keep him where he is. He should be back to normal in a bit and I want him to wake up to a hug!”

Roman sighed. “Okay. It does sound like a good way to calm him down.”

Patton nodded. He pet Virgil’s hair. “Shhh… it’s okay kiddo it’s just us. It just your family. We’re here to help.”

Virgil’s thrashing slowed and weakened. His skin became a slightly healthier shade and his claws retracted. “We’re not gonna hurt you. You’re okay, you’re good.”

He groaned tiredly. He blinked, revealing violet Virgil eyes.

“Pat? What happened?” He looked around. “Why is everyone here? …Are we in the basement?”

“You had an itty bitty bit of a panic attack.” Patton grinned sheepishly, revealing a split lip and a missing tooth. Virgil put a hand over his mouth. “Oh my god!” He looked around, his vision clearing. He gasped at the wounds. “I’m so sorry! Did I do all that?!”

“Yes, but it wasn’t your fault. We all know Anxiety Attacks are out of your control. There’s no reason for an apology.” Logan crouched next to Patton and Virgil, hissing a bit at the pain in his spine.

“Is that a knife wound?!” Virgil grabbed Logan’s wrist and turned him, lifting his shirt slightly to see. He ran a hand through his hair. “I STABBED you?!”

Logan pulled away and took Virgil’s hand to hold him back. “You were a vessel for a monster. It wasn’t you, it was an Attack. Understood?” He looked into Virgil’s eyes sternly.

“Yeah I guess… but it stabbed you in the back.”

“That it did.”

“Gotta hurt.”

“Extremely. But nothing I can’t handle. Thomas is calming down causing the pain to dull, and soon enough all wounds inflicted will heal.”

“Got it…” Virgil looked to Roman. “You okay big guy?”

“I mean I hurt. A lot. All over. But other than that I’m fine.”

“Ah, sounds peachy.”

“Though I was pretty valiant in battle.”

“I’m sure. Good job.” He groaned as feeling returned to his limbs. He looked down at the small cuts and bruises all over his body that the monster hadn’t had time to heal. He rubbed his shoulder and hissed. “Did one of you…?”

Logan raised a finger. “I may or may not have impaled your shoulder with a sword. Purely in self defense.”

“Mhm… great. Feels good.” Virgil huffed as he rolled his joint, loosening the tight muscle and ligaments. It crackled and popped. Roman made a face.

“Cmon, lets get you you your room to rest.” Patton helped Virgil up, wrapping his arm around his shoulders.

“What about Thomas?”

“He’s taking a little break today, you shouldn’t need to work until tomorrow.”

Virgil let out a breath of relief. “Nice.”

Patton helped his tired friend up the stairs to his room. The others followed. They dropped Deceit off in his room on the way. He immediately threw open his mini freezer and grabbed a tub of Ben and Jerry’s and a medicated ice pack.

Patton hugged him before he left for bed.

Roman left next, mumbling about needing a shower and some beauty sleep. He patted Virgil on the shoulder.

“How about you try talking to us a bit before you panic like that. I’ve got all kinds of face masks and bath bombs… we could have a spa day.” Virgil raised a brow. But he could tell the prince was trying.

“Sounds okay.”

“I have black bath bombs. Makes it feel like your being consumed by shadows.”

Virgil blinked.

“Now you’re talking Princey.”

Roman shot a finger gun before picking his sword of the floor where he’d dropped it in battle and retreating to his room.

Logan nodded. “He did bring up a fair point. If you feel like you’re getting overwhelmed, don’t feel intimidated confiding in any of us. We won’t mock or devalue you. We’re your friends.”

“Yeah…” Virgil sighed. “Thanks. I just… sometimes I feel kinda weak or stupid for getting anxious about stuff that barely matters. And I try not to let is affect my work but that is my job so it gets hard…”

“We know kiddo, were here for you. No matter how small the issue, if it makes you feel bad it’s important to us!” Patton hugged Virgil tight. He hugged back tight.

Logan stood uncomfortably.

“I’ll… be in my room. If you need me for any reason.” He patted Virgil’s back awkwardly but reassuringly before ducking out.

In a few moments they were at Virgil’s room.

“I could tell you a bedtime story or sing for you if you want…” Patton sat on the bed.

“Um… no thanks. I’m a grown up.” Virgil unzipped his torn up hoodie and threw it on the ground. He crawled under the covers and closed his eyes. Patton watched him.

“Well okay then. Sleep tight!” He kissed Virgil’s temple. “I’m proud of you kiddo.”

“Proud? I went on a rampage and ruined everything.”

“Yes but this time we worked some stuff out. And we can keep it from happening again, at least for a while. So yeah, I’m proud. I’m always proud of you.”

Virgil smiled. “Mkay then. Now get out, I’m tired.”

“Love you too you little Halloween cupcake.” Patton hugged him quick before turning out the light.

Virgil rolled over and drifted to sleep.


End file.
